Such a connector is commonly referred to as a “hybrid” connector. Such hybrid connectors are used for example to connect base stations to RRU/RRH (remote radio unit/remote radio head) transmitter modules for the wireless communications market. The advantage of this type of connector lies in the fact that they enable information to pass between the base and the module(s) via optical connections while also electrically powering the same modules via the electrical connections made of copper. The absence of interference between the optical signal and the electrical signal enables these two functions to be combined within a single connector. It is thus possible to use a single cable instead of the two usually used, thereby achieving a non-negligible space saving.
Examples of hybrid connectors for the telecommunications market already exist in the prior art, such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,719,461 and 6,874,946.
Nevertheless, those connectors present a large number of parts and their relatively high manufacturing cost is a brake for that type of market.